Deep in the Durham Dales work is ongoing to help grow an ancient trend.

Hedge laying is a phrase you might not be familiar with if you grew up more than 500m from a farm.

The ancient art involves a pain staking process where hedgerows are cut and interwoven creating a stronger barrier which is essential for livestock farmers.

In County Durham work has been ongoing to try and breathe new life into an industry which, much like dry stone walling, has become an ageing industry.

Set up in 1997 the Durham Hedgerow Partnership has provided a series of training courses and competitions to help increase interest in the ancient art.

Led by Sue Mullinger, who works for Durham County Council , the latest contest attracted competitors from the length and breadth of the UK but the group’s 18 year history grew from concerns of the farming industry.

Sue said: “People in the farming community identified hedge laying was an issue so we set up the hedge laying partnership to come up with ways of broadening it out.

“We’ve done it through giving out grants and we’ve tried to raise awareness through competitions - this year’s was the 17th annual event.

“There’s a number of different styles and it depends on where you are in the country.

“Basically it involves cutting through each stem, laying it over and weaving together.

“It rejuvenates and it keeps that design as it grows, some people prefer that and it’s better for biodiversity.”

Prince Charles is the patron of the National Hedgelaying Society, which goes some way to explain the heritage and rural importance of the tradition.

Mayor of Loftus, Cllr Barry Hunt, joined apprentices from the North York Moors National Park and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council

But there’s more than one way to lay a hedge.

Hedge laying is just one of the ways hedgerows are managed along with trimming and coppicing.

Coppicing involves cutting stems off at ground level to encourage the hedge to regenerate.

Left unmanaged a hedgerow will continue to grow upwards and outwards and will eventually become a line of trees but a laid hedge will continue to grow but strengthened making it more resilient to livestock leaning and rubbing against the hedges.

Once layed with regular maintenance a hedgerow can be in place for up to 50 years, so though the process is time consuming it can be a cost-effective way of managing the countryside.

But with more that 30 different styles of hedge laying to suit different climates, and materials, it’s not a dull job.

“It’s a tradition that’s been neglected - it’s not really economic to maintain any more when you can just put a fence up and when you go into arable areas you don’t even need fences.

“It is a declining tradition,” said Sue.

Along with competitions the Prince’s Trust has run courses to try and help younger people take a step into the trade.

According to the RSPB the amount of hedgerows lost across England and Wales was 9,500km a year from 1984 to 1990 and although steps have been taken which saw 4,400km planted a year from 1990 to 1993 there was a decrease in length of 18,000km.

Hedgerow is important not only as a natural barrier for farmers but as a breeding ground for birds, small mammals and insects.

Figures from 2007 show around 402,000km of managed hedgerow and though on the decline moves have been taken to preserve hedgerow to help increase biodiversity.

Hedge laying competitors

Durham Hedgelaying Partnership’s competitions still regularly attract competitors from across the UK though the age is often 50 plus.

The Teesdale event, which takes place every October, is part of the Great North Hedgelaying Grand Prix with competitions also taking place at Jedburgh in the Scottish borders and Longhorsley in Northumberland and competitors have five hours to lay 7m of hedge, which gives some idea of how much time the process can take.

Sue added: “In terms of the competitions we’ve had competitors from Sussex in our events but there are still competitions up and down the country.

“There tends to be a couple of events here in Scotland and often people make it into a bit of an extravaganza.

“Unfortunately it does tend to be older people but we’re doing what we can to encourage young people into the profession by providing training courses through the Prince’s Trust over the past couple of years.

“Like dry stone walling it’s much harder than it looks and people do have to do it in winter, it’s not an easy profession.”